Size: 218 MBBitrate: 320mp3Found in OuterSpaceNo ArtworkEast Of Eden were formed in Bristol by Dave Arbus, Ron Caines, Geoff Nicholson and Geoff Britton. They relocated to London in 1968 and were signed to Decca's progressive rock label Deram, releasing their first album "Mercator Projected" in 1969.East Of Eden were one of a number of groups who performed at the relocated Actuel Festival (October 24-28, 1969) at Mont de I'Enclus, Amougies, Belgium.Performances of this event, which was transmitted on French radio by disc jockey & producer Pierre Lattès and featured Frank Zappa as event MC, appear on the Jérôme Laperrousaz films Music Power and European Music Revolution. East Of Eden feature in the latter documentary with Nice & Soft Machine. East Of Eden appeared on the Tuesday, 28th concert bill, following Soft Machine and Captain Beefheart, followed by Fat Mattress and Zoo. An assortment of 'free jazz' and 'new music' acts also appeared that day.

Try writing a song with a title like Ramadhan. See how often radio will play that. But back in 1970 after the Beatles broke, there were many possibilites. East Of Eden wrote just such a song, Ramadhan, and amazingly, it made No. 2 on the French pop charts. East Of Eden also wrote a song titled Confucius. Both are on this amazing live recording.The presence of the violin in a rock set-up often gives the music a jazz flavour. In the case of East Of Eden at this 1970 gig in Zurich, and performing tracks from their first two albums, Mercator Projected (1969) and Snafu (1970) respectively - especially the latter, their music had an Eastern tinge as well. Snafu made the top 30 in the UK and Jig-a-Jig, which was the encore number in their set, an ironic throwaway twist to the rest of their show, became a top 10 single on it's re-release in 1971.Made up of saxophonist Ron Caines, violinist Dave Arbus and guitarist Geoff Nicholson, the band was originally formed in Bristol in 1967 but moved to London in 1968 taking on board ex-Graham Bond bass player Steve York (later with Vinegar Joe) and drummer Dave Dufort.This is what the group's website (www.eastofedentheband.com) has to say: "If you ask anyone who inhabited the rock venues of the late '60s and early '70s, who the most memorable bands on the circuit were, the name East Of Eden will always crop up. Yet now they are largely forgotten, overshadowed by the obvious names such as King Crimson, The Nice and Yes, and their uncharacteristic hit, Jig-a-Jig, only served to confuse people as to the kind of music they were actually producing at the time.

"The original incarnation of the band was never categorised in the general mainstream of 'progressive' rock which invariably relied on guitar and keyboard pyrotechnics. Instead their front line of electric violin, played in an almost Hendrix-like mode, and saxophone bordering on free form jazz mixed with bluesy guitar gave them a unique identity."Reviewing the Snafu album, Duncan Glenday wrote: "This music is probably the great-grand-daddy of today's avant garde progressive music. It is an eclectic blend of psychedelia, jazz, blues, folk, celtic, eastern, and various forms of world music. Instruments include bass, flute, sax and alto sax, trumpet, drums and guitar - and keyboards are largely dispensed with in favor of Dave Arbus's electric violin which provides plenty of texture and background, as well as taking the lead in many passages. There are long sections driven by a jazzy bass guitar playing with almost loop-like repetition, while solo spots are taken in turn by guitar, violin, flute and sax. Vocals are sparse, which is fortunate as Geoff Nicholson's singing isn't strong."With song titles like Xhorkom, In the Snow for a Blow, Nymphenburger and Leaping Beauties for Rudy, you can imagine that this is an off-the-wall piece that isn't meant to be taken too seriously. It's fun, it displays some stellar musicianship, and it's adventurous. This was originally released in 1970 when experimentation was peaking."

In March 2005, founding members Caines, Arbus and Nicholson regrouped to release the Graffito album.A word of thanks to the seeder who shared the lossless version of this audience recording on the internet. The recording can be considered good but not excellent though the performance more than make up for it.Biography:East of Eden was a British progressive rock band, who had a Top 10 hit in the UK with the single, "Jig-a-Jig", in 1971. The track became something of a stylistic albatross around the band's neck, since it did not resemble their usual sound or anything else they normally played. Although some might consider this group as being a symphonic progressive band, others state that their style is mostly jazz oriented. Combining flutes, violins and tape loops to folk, gypsy and psychedelic music, the East of Eden style was always heavily supported on a pure rock base; strong and experimental.

Their professional career began back in 1967 when they were formed in Bristol as Pictures of Dorian Gray, by Dave Arbus (born David Arbus, 8 October 1941, Leicester) (violin, flute, saxophone, trumpet), Ron Caines (born Ronald Caines, 13 December 1939, Bristol) (alto saxophone), Geoff Nicholson (born Geoffrey Nicholson, 27 June 1948, near Bristol, Somerset) (guitar, vocals), Mike Price bass, and Stuart Rossister drums. Price left in Spring 1968 and was replaced by Terry Brace (born 28 September 1943, in Bristol, Somerset). Vocalist Al Read (born Alan G Read, 26 March 1942, Chelsea, South West London) at the same time. In September 1968 Brace left and was replaced by Steve York and Rossister also left and was replaced in September 1968 by Dave Dufort (born David Dufort, in 1947, in London). In 1968 they moved to London, and the group was signed to a recording contract with Decca's progressive rock imprint Deram label.

In February 1969 Dufort left and in came Bryan Appleyard, who was replaced in June 1969 by Geoff Britton (born Geoffrey Britton, 1 August 1943, Lewisham, South East London) (drums), who later joined Wings. York also left in June 1969 and in came bassist Andy Sneddon (born Andrew Sneddon, 8 May 1946, Ayrshire, Scotland).In 1969 they released the Mercator Projected album, followed shortly after by Snafu (1970), and Jig-a-Jig, a European only compilation, released in 1971. Snafu made it into the Top 30 in Britain of the UK Albums Chart, whilst a single, "Ramadhan," got to number two in France. Caines and Nicholson left the band as the 1970s began, and Arbus kept it together. They jumped to the Harvest label, but their work there never caught on, coinciding as it did with a change in style and a veering away from Eastern music to a country-ish sound. Arbus left in the early 1970s and was replaced by future Rory Gallagher collaborator Joe O'Donnell. The band carried on as almost exclusively a European act, recording and releasing albums in Europe only.

In May 1970 original guitarist Nicholson left. Later that year, they were joined by Davey 'Crabsticks' Trotter on the Mellotron, adding a new dimension to their trademark sound. The band broke up in 1978 having undergone various changes in membership. Important members in late line-ups included vocalist Al Read; bassist Terence 'Terry' Brace; bassist Andy Sneddon; bassist/vocalist David 'Davy' Jack (born 24 January 1940, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland), drummer Jeff Allen (born Jeffrey Allen, 23 April 1946, Matlock, Derbyshire) (from June 1970); keyboardist Martin Fisher (born in 1947, in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey); and violinist Joe O'Donnell (born Joseph O'Donnell, 26 December 1948, in Limerick, County Limerick, Ireland) (from March 1973); Alan 'Al' Perkes (born 26 May 1949, in Bow, East London); guitarist Garth Watt-Roy (born Garth Philip Watt-Roy, December 1947, in Bombay, India) (from February 1972).

The three core members (Arbus, Caines and Nicholson), reunited in 1996 and their album Kalipse was released next year. Like most of their earlier work, it was only a cult hit.Arbus was a guest musician on The Who's track "Baba O'Riley", playing the violin solo. He was a friend of the band's drummer Keith Moon, and was also later a member of Fiddler's Dram.